Guys like Jack Tatum, Howie Long, Marcus Allen, Ken Stabler and Jim Plunkett wore the same jersey's and numbers that current Raider players can wear today. The Raiders do not retire jersey numbers.
You can see guys like Chaz Schilens, Jacoby Ford, and Mario Henderson wear the numbers of Tim Brown, Ken Stabler and Howie Long. The Raiders from the past, along with the coaches, and owner Al Davis created the raider mystique.
They made the Silver and Black one of the most recognized teams in the world. The renegade attitude, the hard hits, and the winning all defined the Raiders. The Autumn Wind was alive and well.
Recently the struggles of the Raiders have made them the joke of the league for some media outlets, and have given other fans a reason to laugh at the Raider Nation.
The memories of the Raiders winning three Super Bowl titles are still fresh on the mind of the old school members of the Raider Nation. The run by Marcus Allen against Washington is a story that can be told by any old timer like it was played just last week.
My dad had to stop watching football because he was so used to watching the Raiders win from the 1970's to 1980's that watching them struggle in the 1990's was, according to him, so frustrating he thought he was going to have a stroke or heart attack.
The new school generation can only hope to have such success that the Raiders had in the past. Guys like me who were born after 1983 can only talk about heart break.
Watching Jeff Hostetler, Jay Schroeder and Jeff George lead the Raiders in the 90's was painful.
The early success in the 2000's was nice, but the heart break was always there. From Tony Saragusa knocking Rich Gannon out of the game in the pl...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Oakland Raiders
